Updated November 12, 2024

Osechi

Osechi ryori is the Japanese term for traditional Japanese cuisine eaten on Japanese New Year’s. Osechi are customarily served in special boxes – often lacquered and red – that are known as jubako. These boxes look something like Japanese bento boxes, and are divided into sections to separate each food that is placed inside. Though you can buy osechi boxes in department stores, it is typically made and consumed within the comfort of one’s home.

Historically, osechi used to consist of only boiled vegetables, but over the years, it has evolved to include a variety of foods signifying various things. Though the types of food have increased in recent years, each food is still something that can be prepared in advance and refrigerated so that the New Year day can be a rest day for the chef of the house.

Each food prepared for osechi has a significant meaning for the New Year. The following are a few of the foods that are traditionally included in the jubako!

- Daidai

This bitter orange grown in Japan signifies a wish for good fortune for younger generations. Daidai has a double meaning in Japanese, and can also be translated to “from generation to generation.”

- Datemaki

This rolled up Japanese omelet is sometimes mixed with fish paste or mashed shrimp. It is typically cold and sweeter than a traditional Western omelet. This food symbolizes a wish for days of success to come.

- Kamaboko

Kamaboko are broiled fish cakes, or imitation crab. On New Year’s, it is custom to include red and white kamaboko, as those colors are reminiscent of the rising sun. The use of these colors is meant to heighten the festive New Year’s feel of the osechi ryori. The kamaboko are also often arranged in an elaborate pattern within the box.

- Kazunoko

This word means herring roe. Since kazu means number and ko means child, this food symbolizes a wish for fertility and many healthy children in the New Year.

- Konbu

This seaweed is widely associated with the Japanese word yorokobu, which means o be happy.

- Kuro-mame

These black soybeans share the second part of their name – mame – with the Japanese word for health. Thus eating this food is a wish for good health in the New Year.

- Kohaku-namasu

This little salad type dish is made of daikon (Japanese radish) and carrots. These vegetables are thinly sliced then pickled in sweet vinegar and yuzu citrus. The festive colors of this dish add to the celebratory feel of New Year’s.

- Tai

Tai is Japanese for red sea-bream fish. This word is also the end of the Japanese word medetai, which symbolizes an event of success.

- Tazukuri

These dried sardines are cooked in soy sauce before being served. The meaning of the word tazukuri is “rice paddy maker.” The reason for this is that fish were commonly used to fertilize rice fields! The symbolism of this dish is thus a year of abundant harvest.

- Ozouni

This rice cake soup is a very traditional food, eaten only on Japanese New Year’s. It symbolizes a variety of things, including a long life and fulfillment. Read the Ozouni article HERE to learn more about ozouni!

- Ebi

Ebi are prawns cooked with sake and soy sauce. The shape of the curled up ebi, in addition to the fact that they are all connected together on a skewer, signify a wish for a long life.

- Nishiki tamago

This egg is separated before it is cooked, so that the two colors of the egg can have separate meanings. The yolk symbolizes gold, while the egg white symbolizes silver. Together, these colors call upon a wish for a year of wealth and good economic fortune.

The word osechi can also mean “a significant period.” Thus, osechi is very important to consume on the Japanese New Year to give thanks for the significant period of the New Year. Any food left uneaten in an osechi box is considered bad luck, so be sure to eat up!

Otoso

Otoso is the spiced sake that Japanese drink during the New Year’s period!

The first kanji for Otoso means “evil spirits” and the second kanji means “to defeat.” Hence, the idea behind otoso is that drinking it will flush away any bad luck or misfortune from the previous year. In addition, the otoso is said to bless drinkers with a long healthy life! A famous saying in Japan dictates that “if one person drinks otoso, that person’s fall will not fall ill, if a whole family drinks otoso, nobody in the village will fall ill.”

Otoso is made from a variety of medicinal herbs that are soaked in sake or mirin. It is said that otoso originated from an ancient Chinese medicinal recipe. Now, it is made from ingredients such as Japanese pepper, cinnamon, dried ginger, and rhubarb. It is also used as a medicinal drink to prevent colds from worsening!

Sakazuki is the Japanese word for the three cup sizes used for drinking otoso. The smallest cup is filled first and passed around the table so each family member receives a sip. In formal settings, families sit around the table so that the drinking circle starts from youngest to oldest. However in modern times in regular homes the drinking usually begins with the head of the household.

Some apothecaries will give out otoso as a free gift to loyal clients at the end of year. Though otoso is the original New Year’s sake, it is now only Kansai and Western Japan that drinks it. However, the rest of the Japan does maintain the tradition by just drinking regular toso-free sake on New Years.

Kagami Mochi

Kagami mochi, which translates directly to “mirror rice cake,” consists of two round mochi piled on top of one another. The mochi on top is usually slightly smaller, and has a daidai – bitter orange – placed on top! Sometimes a piece of konbu (seaweed) and a skewer of dried persimmon fruits are placed at the base of the mochi structure. In some regions, three levels of mochi are used!

The stand on which the kagami mochi stands is called a sanpo, and the sheet on which it rests is called a shihobeni. The sheet is thought to have powers that ensure no fires will occur in the house for the following year. Sometimes there are also sheets of paper (gohei) folded into the shape of lightning, are also attached to the structure.

The mochi rounds are referred to as mirrors because they are meant to represent the duality of the following year. Some of these dual forces that are represented by the mocha are yin and yang, the moon and the sun, or the continuation of families throughout generations.

Kagami mochi are usually placed in a small Shinto altar, created within a family’s home. Some homes also have a tokonoma, or a small Shinto shrine alcove or cabinet.

Nowadays, supermarkets will sell kagami mochi that are preformed and wrapped in hard plastici n the shape of the kagami mochi, with a plastic daidai on top.

Usually, the kagami mochi structure is taken apart and eaten on the second weekend of January. This tradition is called kagami biraki – which translates to: mirror opening. This beautiful imagery is meant to bestow family-related luck on the eaters of the mochi.

Book your trip to Japan and try the kagami mochi tradition this coming New Year’s!